If in 2016 Romania had had a strategy to help all women in pregnancy crisis chose life for their babies, in 2017 Romania’s population would have been on a growing trend for the first time in decades

According to the most recent data published by Romania’s National Institute of Statistics (INS), the rate of natural increase for this country’s population continued to be negative in 2016. Last year 190,238 babies were born alive and 734 were stillborn.

The total number of deaths in 2016 was 256,761. The difference between this number and the number of live births gives the natural increase of population, which this year continued to be negative, meaning a decrease instead of increase: -66,523 persons.

Infant mortality has slightly decreased compared to previous years, but continues to be alarming. It is defined as the number of children under one year of age who have died for every 1,000 live births. In 2016, infant mortality in Romania was 7.4 according to INS.

The Euro Health Consumer Index 2016 (EHCI) shows Romania, Macedonia and Bulgaria still leading, in this order, a sad top of European countries with the highest infant mortality rate – the values of this index are approximately twice as high as the European average (see chart below).

In 2016, Romanians have contracted 133,183 marriages – over 4 times more than the number of divorces registered in the same year (30,497). This statistics is optimistic compared to the average of this index in EU, where the most recent Eurostat data show 943,000 divorces for 2.1 million marriages, which is almost one divorce for every two marriages in one year.

Comparing the negative natural increase of Romania’s population (-66,523) in 2016 with the total number of abortion officially registered in the same year (63,074), one can see that, if all the women who interrupted their pregnancy had been encouraged and supported materially and with facilities, through a national strategy, to choose life for their babies, today Romania would have a natural increase as close to zero as possible.

And if we add the fact that the number of abortions is actually much bigger than the official statistics, since the data include neither abortions done in private clinics, nor chemical abortions, we could really say that a national pro-life strategy would bring the natural increase of population on a positive trend quite shortly.

Read the article in Romanian language in Stiripentruviata.ro